News & Articles on Fossil Fuels
Fossil Fuels ares not renewable, obviously. They are listed here for organizational reasons. I don’t write about fossil fuels–as a rule. However, fossil fuels and those who promote them are not going away quietly. Thus, I felt it necessary to include the topic to distinguish articles that are not about nuclear power or renewable energy.
The world is at an energy policy crossroads: The European Union must choose between the poles of the USA and China – or pursue its own model
By
Stefan Gsänger
Europe should seek constructive cooperation with China on energy policy. Even though the two regions are developing very differently in socio-political terms, cooperation in the field of energy and climate policy offers enormous opportunities for the whole world. Europe and China can play a key role in the global energy transformation and in the global fight against climate change by using their resources for this purpose. This naturally requires constructive dialogue on an equal footing, in which both blocs formulate their own and shared interests and develop their relations on a clear basis. This also means that Europe and China can and should work together to convince numerous other countries that the path of renewable energies is the path to a good future for all people, a prosperous and more peaceful world that successfully overcomes the climate crisis.
The health burden and racial-ethnic disparities of air pollution from the major oil and gas lifecycle stages in the United States
By
External Source
We estimate lifecycle annual burdens of 91,000 premature deaths attributable to fine particles (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone, 10,350 PM2.5-attributable preterm births, 216,000 incidences of NO2-attributable childhood-onset asthma, and 1610 lifetime cancers attributable to hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). Racial-ethnic minorities experience the greatest disparities in exposure and health burdens across almost all lifecycle stages. The greatest absolute disparities occur for Black and Asian populations from PM2.5 and ozone, and the Asian population from NO2 and HAPs. Relative inequities are most extreme from downstream activities, especially in Louisiana and Texas.
Beyond Baseload Power: A New Paradigm of Power System Operation
By
Toby Couture
With the rise of low-cost wind and solar power, this baseload paradigm has come under strain. Utilities and regulators interested in keeping electricity prices low are starting to introduce variable renewables like wind and solar at scale instead: since the latter have zero marginal costs, they typically get dispatched first, making them by default the new foundation of the power system. In the process, other generating units are having to ramp and flex around them.
Beyond Baseload Power: Toward a New Paradigm of Power System Operation
By
Toby Couture
But today, in a world with abundant and inexpensive solar and wind power, the economics have shifted – variable renewables are becoming the new foundation of the system, and other resources are starting to flex and ramp around them. This shift represents one of the most fundamental changes to the way power systems are designed and operated since Tesla and Edison waged battles over AC vs. DC.
California Refineries Close as Gasoline Demand Slips into Permanent Decline
By
Michael Barnard
California’s refinery closures are best understood as demand-driven, not regulation-driven. Supply shocks will come with them, but those are normal features of a disruptive transition. Reading the signals correctly is critical. What is happening in California now will happen in other regions as EV penetration deepens. The state is simply showing the rest of the world what the future of gasoline and diesel refining looks like once the tipping points of electrification are crossed.
Beyond the Blade: How Wind Energy Learned from Oil & Gas Failures–Why wind recycling won’t become the next abandoned well crisis
By
External Source
Oil and gas created a culture of extraction and externalization. Companies maximized short-term profits while socializing long-term environmental costs. The Texas legislation represents a belated attempt to address decades of inadequate oversight. Wind energy built sustainability into its business model. Financial assurance is standard practice. Near-complete recyclability is an industry goal, not a regulatory requirement. The Houston Chronicle’s investigative series on “zombie wells” reveals the full scope of oil and gas abandonment—wells that were supposed to be safely plugged but instead burst with toxic water, contaminating aquifers and costing taxpayers millions. Wind energy won’t have a zombie blade problem because the industry engineered responsibility into its DNA. When turbines reach end-of-life, they become raw materials for the next generation of clean energy infrastructure.
